The binary decision of crossing or avoiding the midline that retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) axons take at the optic chiasm during embryonic development is essential for binocular vision and the perception of depth and space. This simple axonal choice represents an ideal model to identify the mechanisms that control axon guidance during neural circuits formation. Although numerous membrane proteins involved in axonal pathfinding have been identified in the last decades, the regulatory genomic mechanisms that orchestrate their expression remain poorly understood. In an attempt to identify novel mechanisms controlling axon guidance decisions, we have compared chromatin accessibility (ATAC-seq) and transcription (RNA-seq) in ipsilateral and contralateral RGCs using a novel genetic strategy. Cre-driver lines specific for these two RGC populations enabled the fluorescent tagging of the nuclear envelope or polysomes for subsequent cell sorting or ribosomal profiling, respectively. These differential screens exposed important differences in the status of the chromatin, transcription factor occupancy and transcriptional profiles of different genes between the two neuronal populations, revealing unknown genomic mechanisms underlying axon guidance decisions.

Resumen del póster presentado al European Developmental Biology Congress (EDBC), celebrado en Alicante del 23 al 26 de octubre de 2019.

También presentado al 3rd AXON-meeting, celebrado en Alicante (España) del 11 al 13 de septiembre de 2019.

Peer reviewed